[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. So we were talking about shopping closeouts in this last segment here. And it's one of those things that can really save you a ton of money. Now there is a Facebook group and actually a few of them out there that can help you find these closeouts. And what it is, it's just kind of like a, a crowdsourced group, right?

[00:00:23] Eric Goranson: You got all these tens of thousands of members across the U S and when they see a sale, they pick a picture, post it up. And then, you know, you have minutes to get down to your. Home Improvement Center to see if it's still on the shelf there, or maybe you're the first one to find it and you can post it up there, which is a lot of fun.

[00:00:40] Eric Goranson: So, um, take a look online, just look up Lowe's Home Depot clearance group. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is Around the House. Welcome to the Around the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and [00:01:00] education.

[00:01:00] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining us today. If you want to be a part of the show. Give me a call at 833 239 4144. That's 833 239 4144. And we might get you to be a part of an upcoming episode. Well, today I wanted to talk about how to save money on your next remodel project. And they keep talking about inflation and then you'll hear some people saying, well, inflation's going down.

[00:01:26] Eric Goranson: Well guys, prices aren't going down. The rate of inflation of where things are getting more expensive is slightly slowing, so it's still getting more expensive. It's just getting expensive less, but we're not getting less expensive out there. So, piece of material you bought for your project that was 22 bucks.

[00:01:47] Eric Goranson: They thought it would go to 24 bucks, and it went to 23 bucks, but they're saying prices are down. That's really just not the case. We're talking about, well, things are getting more expensive and staying there and getting even more [00:02:00] expensive. So today I wanted to talk a little bit about how to save money on that next remodel project.

[00:02:06] Eric Goranson: This first segment here is going to be an important one. And it's a game that I like playing, and when I'm doing projects, and I'm having to buy materials for them, this is something that I like to do, because I did this this last week, and it saved me a ton of money. And that is shopping closeouts at your big box store.

[00:02:25] Eric Goranson: Now, let's talk about this, and you're going to see this more at a big box store than your local small hardware store, because, quite frankly, your small hardware store is probably going to make some better decisions. But here's what happens, and nothing against the big box stores. They will come in. And let's say they have a brand of electrical cords that are extension cords.

[00:02:45] Eric Goranson: That's who they've been using. And all of a sudden they say, we're changing companies. We're going with brand X. All of a sudden they'll mark those off on clearance to get those blown out the door. And they will knock that down a little bit. Like they'll take 10, 15, 20 [00:03:00] percent off. Put it on clearance, try to move them out the door, but they won't do that until they create another spot.

[00:03:07] Eric Goranson: So what happens is they'll do that a week or so before the new stuff comes in because they don't want to be out of electrical cords, right? So the new product comes in and that's what they call a reset. And so that reset is where they look at it and say, okay, now we're going to get them off the shelf.

[00:03:23] Eric Goranson: We're going to put this new beautiful set and all of our new offerings, all that good stuff. New pricing, whatever it's going to be sitting there on the shelf. Well, now they have stuff that has no home So this will either go Over on a corner on a clearance rack on the end of an aisle or like in lowe's it will go back over into Their clearance area which many stores have now is a clearance area That's kind of in the back corner of the store that they didn't know what to do with They'll put it back there.

[00:03:49] Eric Goranson: Many times it's by what the receiving area is. They'll kind of hide it back there. And it's depending store to store, but it's wherever they can hide it. So they will throw it back in that area. [00:04:00] So what's cool with this is that's a good place to catch it. But for me, for instance, last week, I was running in Lowe's to go grab some stuff.

[00:04:08] Eric Goranson: And I was just getting some stuff for an upcoming shoot. Needed to get a couple things of this, that, some more tape, just normal stuff that I go through. So I go over there and take a look at it and the cool thing was, is I see these beautiful lights sitting there on the closeout table. Wow, they are at 75 percent off.

[00:04:24] Eric Goranson: Now you have my undivided attention because now we're starting to look at very nice lights for 40 or 50 bucks. And so this is where you stop, take a look, read the directions. And what I do is when you start to get a crowd, I actually put them on my cart and then read them. And I'll put them on my cart there.

[00:04:42] Eric Goranson: So if more people come up, I've got them in my basket. So that way I'm good. Someone else is going to, you're going to set it down and you snag it. And the other person's like, ah, let it go. And they instantly want it. So grab it, put it in your cart, then take a peek. If you, if you, if you make the decision of now, this [00:05:00] really isn't going to work in my application.

[00:05:02] Eric Goranson: Put it back, call it a day. Now, here's the thing. The longer it sits there, the more discounts they get. But, I have noticed this and I've run into this in the past. Like at Home Depot, for instance. I have gone in there, wrote it out, and when it gets down to that, all of a sudden they want to get rid of it.

[00:05:17] Eric Goranson: It's down to a penny. I have had store managers refuse to sell it to me for a penny. This is where they go, Oh, I don't want to hurt my average ticket price. Let's get it out of here. They would much rather throw it away. Then sell it to you for a penny in many instances So be careful with that stuff and the self checkouts are a good place to go, but there's always enough people watching those Sometimes I have had at self checkouts or checkouts go.

[00:05:44] Eric Goranson: I can't sell it to you for a penny Even though it's marked and they would rather throw it away. So there there is a point of no return where? I've also had store managers say, Hey, I'll just give it to you. It's a penny. I don't want to, I don't want to do that. Just take it. And that's good. So that is a [00:06:00] good place to be looking for this.

[00:06:01] Eric Goranson: And that's one of those things that you have to be careful with because some of the stores I go into, there are people that pull up in trucks and their house flippers, contractors, they will go around and shop the clearance stuff and clear it out, or they'll come in and buy it and resell it someplace else in their stores.

[00:06:17] Eric Goranson: So you got to be careful. Sometimes you'll see guys come in and a crew will come in and buy up all the clearance stuff and it's gone. So you have to be careful of how you play this game. It's something that's important. And you also get the surprise of going in and going, Hey, wait a minute. Guess what I just figured out this just closed out and it's even cheaper when I get to the register I've had that happen many times too.

[00:06:39] Eric Goranson: So here's one of the important things I want to talk about though with warranties You can void the warranty by buying something that is damaged clearance So great example if I went in and bought a water heater and I've done this before you buy the water heater and let's say It's got a damaged drain valve on it.

[00:06:57] Eric Goranson: You're like, ah, it's a seven dollar drain valve. I'll put another one on there [00:07:00] You want that manager to write that up, not as a damaged clearance, because that's probably going to void the warranty. Well, you bought it damaged. We're not going to fix it, especially if you've repaired it. I get it if it's a, a water heater that's got a big dent down the side or a refrigerator that was dropped and it's beat up.

[00:07:21] Eric Goranson: But if you've got a ding in the side of the refrigerator or washing machine and they sell it to you as a damaged many times, you don't get a warranty with that. So if something completely unrelated down the road, like an ice maker fails, it has nothing to do with the little scratch on the side. Now, when they ask to see a receipt, you could have an issue that that was sold that way.

[00:07:44] Eric Goranson: But there is a way around that, and that is for that, that manager to write it up as a customer satisfaction discount. So some will do that, some won't. But that way you get the warranty, and especially, I see it as a problem if it's something that [00:08:00] is nearly destroyed, right? And that's not the company's fault.

[00:08:05] Eric Goranson: The store is trying to get their most out of it. They don't want to lose that much money on it, but if you can get that water heater for a hundred bucks versus six 50 or 700, you got a deal. And if it gets written up correctly, so, well, you can get the warranty that gives you some peace of mind. But, I don't want to take advantage of these companies selling products and slide it under their warranty when it was clearly damaged.

[00:08:27] Eric Goranson: I just want to make sure that, um, if you get unrelated stuff, that it's still covered. And that's nothing wrong with that, but it's up to the store manager. How they write that sale up is going to make a big difference on how it goes. So, that's a really big one right there. So, if you have them write it up correctly, or say, Hey, can you write that up as a customer satisfaction instead of a damage?

[00:08:49] Eric Goranson: That way, the rest of this, if something fails, I can actually call it under warranty. It doesn't cost them anymore, but it could be one of those things that hurts them on their bottom line because they're allowed so much [00:09:00] damage. They're allowed so much customer satisfaction discounts. So it's going to come down to their bookkeeping on that.

[00:09:06] Eric Goranson: So that's another way around that, uh, and like I said, I don't want to take advantage of any of these manufacturers, but, uh, if it's something that's unrelated, I don't see I have a problem. I don't see a problem with that and how it gets written up, but, um, just use your best judgment on there and, uh, whatever works with your conscience is good.

[00:09:24] Eric Goranson: So the last thing I want to do is take advantage of those guys, but really this is where buying those closeouts can really save you on a project. If you're getting 75 off percent off on some of your materials. That's all of a sudden taking care of that inflation. And that's going to help you on the other stuff that you're paying another 30 percent on.

[00:09:42] Eric Goranson: Now, when we come back here, guys, I have another couple of secrets for you here to be careful with, and some Facebook groups that help you find these deals. And we'll talk about that just as soon as around the house returns back[00:10:00]

[00:10:09] Eric Goranson: to the round the house show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining me today. If you want to find out more about us, head over. Brand new website and that is around the house online. com. We have our videos from my television show, which is a weekly television show.

[00:10:26] Eric Goranson: That is around the house, Northwest broadcast on gray television. You can catch that there. We have about 300 plus YouTube videos. And what's cool is this weekend here is the first episode of season two. So this is show 53. We have done. 52 one hour episodes in the last year, one a week and with brand new shows every single week.

[00:10:49] Eric Goranson: And it feels really good to have that knocked out and be diving into something even better for 2024 in season number two. We're going to have a lot of fun there. [00:11:00] If you want to get ahold of us, 833 239 4144. And if you're shy, you can head over to around the house, online. com and message us there for any home improvement questions, or even a topic that you want us to talk about.

[00:11:13] Eric Goranson: That's how this one came up with so many messages that, Hey, how do we save money? And I thought it's been a little bit let's tackle this again from a different angle So we were talking about shopping closeouts in this last segment here And it's one of those things that can really save you a ton of money Now there is a facebook group and actually a few of them out there That can help you find these closeouts.

[00:11:34] Eric Goranson: And what it is, it's just kind of like a crowd sourced group, right? You got all these tens of thousands of members across the U. S. And when they see a sale, they take a picture, post it up, and then you know you have minutes to get down to your home improvement center to see if it's still on the shelf there.

[00:11:49] Eric Goranson: Or maybe you're the first one to find it and you can post it up there, which is a lot of fun. So, um, Take a look online. Just look up Lowe's Home Depot clearance group. [00:12:00] It's a closed group on there. And I tell you what, you will see some insane deals where stuff is 10 cents for a wrench set and some of that stuff where they're just blowing it out.

[00:12:11] Eric Goranson: Now, here's the thing. It could be a store to store issue. One store is changing out this or they were late or early, but many times nationally or regionally, they're going to blow things out the door. So like on the West Coast, they could be changing brands, but on the East Coast, they could have been using that brand forever.

[00:12:29] Eric Goranson: So that's not going to get discontinued. So a lot of times, there's regions like the West or there's the Pacific Northwest and California, Nevada. You'll have different groups for the different stores. And so whatever their regional management team is, that's where you're going to find that. So really take a look and then you can see what you can find there and maybe run down to your store or if you're in the store.

[00:12:52] Eric Goranson: Take a look down through that group and see if there's anything on there. Then you can go take a peek at every time you're in the store. It's not a bad idea to go take a [00:13:00] look because I have found things on there. Oh, there it is. Boom. And it goes in my cart. And you got that savings. Now one, here's one thing to take a look at too.

[00:13:08] Eric Goranson: And we talked a little bit about it earlier as well. But if you see something that's barely marked down, you might make a note to go back and check it a few days later. If you're like, ah, that's not really that good a deal. It might be later. So set yourself a reminder for a couple days and see if it's gone down.

[00:13:25] Eric Goranson: Hey, next time I'm in the store, I'm going to check this, create a, a list. So every time that you go in the store, you're looking at items going, Hey, that was, that was marked down, especially when it comes to power tools and big things like that. Many times they'll sit on the shelf at 10 or 15 percent off for a while, cause there's not that much markup in them anyway.

[00:13:44] Eric Goranson: So you'll see him go in there and just kind of take their time on marking stuff down until they move it. And then when in doubt, if you're going to buy a, make a significant purchase, feel free to get the assistant manager involved or the department head involved and find out [00:14:00] sometimes when they're big, like a damaged refrigerator or a water heater or a big piece like that Laundry, you can get a little bit better deal by talking to the manager going, Hey.

[00:14:12] Eric Goranson: I'll take this right now. If you'll give it to me for X and I have gone to stuff that's been there for a little bit on the floor, come up and said like windows, for instance, custom order windows that were returned because somebody misordered them. That's a big one. You can go up to those windows and let's say they're selling for 500 bucks.

[00:14:30] Eric Goranson: I've gone up to that and said, okay, guys, I'll give it to you for 200 bucks and I'll take them today. Sometimes I go, just get it out of here. I'm tired of tripping over it. I don't have space for this and off you go. Okay. So give a little bit of a ridiculous low offer and then come back and figure out what your number is like an auction when you go to it.

[00:14:49] Eric Goranson: Know what your dollar is that you're like, okay, this is my, I need to get it for this or I'm out. I've bought windows and doors and stuff like that for 20 cents on the dollar just because they needed to [00:15:00] get it gone. So take advantage of that. And sometimes a Friday morning's not a bad place. You got freight coming in, that kind of stuff, or a Monday morning after the weekend.

[00:15:10] Eric Goranson: If they want to get it gone. Doesn't hurt to ask. Be bold. Just come up. Hey guys, I want to see what I can give. I want to get this, but that's too high. What can you do? And they'll go, well, make me an offer and off you go to the races. So let that be kind of part of the fun of the sale and see what happens with that.

[00:15:25] Eric Goranson: But that can save you a ton of money. And it's kind of like when you go to Costco and you see Costco codes and things like that. And that's one thing to be careful with. And I, I'm a Costco person. I have a Costco card and I've had a Costco card for decades. They're a Pacific Northwest company. Based up here.

[00:15:41] Eric Goranson: So I've had them for a long, long time. But one thing I say about being careful with Costco, like any of the big box stores, many times they have things that are made specifically for them. So if you see a name brand faucet, sometimes that's built a little bit cheaper. [00:16:00] Than anything else out there. But one of the rules that Costco has for people to sell things in their store, for instance, that they have to be, I think it's 10 or 15 percent less than anybody else in the market.

[00:16:12] Eric Goranson: So when you, as a company, let's say I was a company going to go sell, um, tools, hand tools. They're going to look at what I sell my hand tools out They're going to jump online and see anywhere that I sell them. We need they would need to be cheaper Than 10 or 15 percent less than anywhere they could find and then it goes in there So that's part of the kind of the costco promise, but some company will make a special model number And cheapen that product up a little bit, put a little more plastic in it, take a little metal out.

[00:16:41] Eric Goranson: They'll make it cause Costco is a big enough company. They can do a special run for that. And you see that with Home Depot and Lowe's. And so sometimes you will get a lesser product than if you went and you went to your power tool store, you went to the plumbing store, the regular independent or your plumber shop kind of place.

[00:16:59] Eric Goranson: And you'll see that. [00:17:00] So be careful with that. Sometimes it seems like you're getting a good deal. Sometimes you're getting kind of a, A cheaper version of that. So that's something to be very careful with. Now, when we come back here, we're going to talk more about where you can get these products as well.

[00:17:16] Eric Goranson: So we were talking about the home centers and that's a great place to get stuff, but especially in closeout, but there are so many companies out there that donate products and that can be a really big deal. That's where things get donated. And sometimes companies will go at the end of the year, or end of their fiscal year.

[00:17:36] Eric Goranson: We're going to close all this stuff out. Let's make a donation to habitat for humanity, for instance, and they'll go in and do that. So there are some places we'll talk about that when we come back now. Hey guys, if you want to be part of the show, make sure you give us a call here at 8 That number is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44.

[00:17:57] Eric Goranson: And if I'm not in the studio, leave a message and a best time [00:18:00] to call back and I will try to give you a good call back. We're gonna be really on top of that here. We've been so busy with the TV show, but, um, I've got a new schedule here that I'm gonna be doing, so I'll have a better time to, to reach you if I'm not in the studio.

[00:18:13] Eric Goranson: So we've been moving some stuff around to make that easier for you guys to get ahold of me and for me to get ahold of you if I miss you because. We get people calling all times of day and night on that number. And many times they don't want to be on the radio, but they just want to get their answers question.

[00:18:28] Eric Goranson: And I will help you with that as well. All right, everybody. Well, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house, online. com. More of how to save money on your next remodel project when Around the House returns. Don't go anywhere.[00:19:00]

[00:19:07] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the Around the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us. This is traditionally a two hour radio show and podcast that airs every single weekend on the Talk Media Network. If you only catch one hour of the show on the radio, don't worry.

[00:19:24] Eric Goranson: You can always catch the second hour on the podcast on any podcast player. So thanks for tuning in today. We've been talking about how to save money on your next remodel project. Maybe it's a small little DIY project. Well, you're tackling a big one. This is how I find those special deals and or save money on that next project Now here in Portland, we have a bunch of different Retailers outside of our box stores and our traditional lumber yards.

[00:19:53] Eric Goranson: For instance, we have, well, as everybody knows the habitat for humanity store, which can have some good deals on [00:20:00] there. Now, sometimes there's just a bunch of junk. Sometimes there is a ton of great stuff and it's just depending on what day you go in there. I have left out of there where I've bought a brand new Purdy paint brushes for three or four bucks a piece.

[00:20:15] Eric Goranson: And there's times I've gone in there and went, Nope, nothing today. Now, if you collect vintage tools, that's a place to go in and take a look at. I love using some of those vintage tools for my TV set, so I can put them there and it's just kind of a fun place. I'm not using them because quite frankly, tools are so much better today when it comes to power tools and things like that than they were 30, years ago.

[00:20:36] Eric Goranson: But it's nice to be able to use those and kind of pay homage to all the history of the companies out there that got us to where we are today. But we have our Habitat for Humanity stores, and then we have a lot of little, what I call, large non profits. For instance, we have a place here called the Rebuilding Center in Portland.

[00:20:56] Eric Goranson: And it is massive. It is the size of a grocery store, it seems, [00:21:00] if you look at the square footage of it. Not your big super center, but good size grocery store. And it is filled with home improvement stuff. It could have couches, they could have toilets, they could have sinks, lots of good used lumber. And they even get in some, some cedar seconds and some wood seconds, for instance, that come in the door that you can pipe babe by the, by the foot.

[00:21:23] Eric Goranson: And it's just a really good place to save money and being a 501 C three. They really get to put the money back into the community as well. And those guys I love to support because what they do is they have classes, right? They're so good at this. They have classes where if you wanted to learn how to fix a toaster or something like that, they have classes for that.

[00:21:43] Eric Goranson: They have woodworking, they have DIY home improvement stuff, and then they give back into the community as well by doing projects around the community for people. That are have a less of ability of taking care of their home. So they do a lot of that kind of stuff. So that's a lot of fun. Now there's also [00:22:00] places around here.

[00:22:01] Eric Goranson: That are discount building material places. Like for instance, there's one over here in Sherwood building material resources. They're great. I've done some stories with them on the television and they have like seconds from door companies, window companies, lumber, they have lots of board, foot, lumber in there, lots of different stuff.

[00:22:20] Eric Goranson: Exterior wood decking, they buy all those closeouts from the mills and maybe a lumber supplier that had a half a unit of this color of, of tracks or whatever decking out there, and they've got it there on the shelf. So it's a pretty good deal for something like that. So it's not a bad way to go. And if you're looking just for a small quantity of a good material, sometimes that's a good way to go.

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson: They'll have a door that was misordered or made wrong. It ends up on their shelf and then you get to do that savings. So these are great places to find products is those local home improvement thrift stores. Now they're going to be making their money on it, but it's still [00:23:00] 60%, 50%, 70 percent of what it would be on the shelf.

[00:23:04] Eric Goranson: And that's not a bad place to go. Well, this, this rest of this segment, I wanted to talk about savings that don't make sense, right? Where are you, where you're, I'm going to save money right here that costs you more money in the long run. And the first one is buying cheap paint. And I'm not talking closeout paint.

[00:23:23] Eric Goranson: I'm talking the lowest price stuff they have in the building. And you've probably heard me talk about this before if you're one of our regular listeners, but if you go out and buy a 25 gallon of paint versus a 60 or 70 gallon of paint, that stuff covers about half as good as the really good paint. So what happens is, is you need to buy twice as much of that paint to get the same coverage.

[00:23:47] Eric Goranson: So if you count your labor in it, you're losing money. So buy decent paint, you don't have to buy the most expensive, you don't have to go get the 90 gallon or some of that crazy designer stuff, but you want to get their higher grade [00:24:00] stuff. Like if you go in and say, okay, what's your top of the line paint?

[00:24:04] Eric Goranson: What's the step below that? That's kind of the money spot right there where you want to be. Now, if you're doing dark, moody colors, maybe you want the designer paint because maybe they're going to have richer, truer colors for you. They're going to look better. And then of course. The other place is, is don't skimp on the primer.

[00:24:24] Eric Goranson: That's another thing there that can cost you money. Primer is traditionally a lot cheaper than good paint. So one way to do it to cheat is to get that primer and see if your paint store has the ability to tint that. So if you're going to be doing a dark gray charcoal, and you're going to prime the room because you just don't know what was on there, or that paint got hashed and you had repairs, why don't you go have them print, tint that so it's dark gray.

[00:24:49] Eric Goranson: If they can throw some tint in that primer, that's going to save you maybe a coat or a touch up coat on the other one. If the other paint is a, hey, it's a one coat paint and you can get that where it's already a [00:25:00] gray instead of a white, you're going to be farther ahead right there and that can save you a ton of money on paint.

[00:25:05] Eric Goranson: So take a look at tinted primers. That can be a good deal right there that can save you some serious money. So that's one way to go. Now, another place that I don't like to see people save money on because it never saves them money is on decking. Now here's why. So people go out and spend, okay, I got this beautiful composite decking.

[00:25:25] Eric Goranson: My deck is 10 or 15 years old. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take all my joists and add a little bit of rotten wood on them and I'm going to flip them over. So I put the good wood up, the bad wood down, and I'm going to be good. First of all, that can be really dangerous because you already have wood that is degraded.

[00:25:40] Eric Goranson: That if you can't sink a screw or a nail on that side of it, well, guess what? You've already basically reduced that down one lumber side as far as strength, which isn't good. And second of all, here's where people don't think about, and this is where they run into troubles. I want to say you should be putting a brand new wood underneath it, because [00:26:00] here's what happens.

[00:26:01] Eric Goranson: You're putting a composite surface down, That has a 20 or 30 year lifetime. Maybe it's got a 30 year warranty or a 40 year warranty on this stuff. And you've got a wood system that if not cared for won't last 15 years. So now you've got something that's going to last seven or eight years and you're putting a, you're covering it with a 30 year product.

[00:26:23] Eric Goranson: So all of a sudden that deck is going to be looking gorgeous. It's going to be clean. It's going to be great. And now you've got wood failing in the structure itself. So, if you're putting in, it's, I do not recommend, unless it's just a couple years old, resurfacing a deck. Unless you're in a climate where you don't get the rain, you don't get that, and, you don't get the dry rot, and everything looks good, then that's one thing.

[00:26:49] Eric Goranson: And then make sure that you tape the tops of those. So what I'm saying is, is every one of your framing members over there, There's a lot of different companies that make it. It is a protective wrap that you put over the cap of [00:27:00] that. between the deck surface and that. So if you want to have that wrapped, make sure you have that completely protected.

[00:27:06] Eric Goranson: So if water does get down through there, or if you get leaves or pine needles or dirt that it doesn't soak in and rot that wood out. So a little bit of work goes a long ways right there on being able to do that. So take your time, get it dialed in. And you'll be good, but don't save money by going cheap on the framing.

[00:27:25] Eric Goranson: Cause that's going to burn you really, really quickly. And that's something that really can be one dangerous in two. It's very short sighted. So this is where, okay, I'm gonna have to pay more. I'm going to have to do it right. But get it all down, build it right and do it. And then also make sure you're following the manufacturer's directions on the deck on how to put that all together.

[00:27:45] Eric Goranson: Make sure that you've got, if they want to 12 inch on center, build it as 12 inch on center, don't do 16 on center and wonder why it looks all warpy because you didn't support those more flexible boards and what you had on there with the two by six seat or whatever else. And [00:28:00] then the biggest mistake I see people out there do is they build it with a whitewood dimensional lumber.

[00:28:04] Eric Goranson: So they just go grab two by sixes. And then put a paint on it and boy, that that's going to last a handful of years. So don't waste your time with that. But really that's a great place to go through and just be careful when we're using materials like that. Now getting a vintage sink or a vintage faucet, and it's something you can repair like a faucet or something like that.

[00:28:26] Eric Goranson: No big deal. But to be very careful with that in some of the used products, you wanna make sure that you can actually get replacement parts on it before you install it, so that way you don't have to do it twice. Alright everybody, we'll, we'll be right back. We're gonna talk more about those projects, especially if you're hiring somebody just as soon as a round the House Returns

[00:28:52] Eric Goranson: House[00:29:00]

[00:29:07] Eric Goranson: show. This is where we hope to get the most outta your home through Information Education. Thanks for joining us today. We have a great interview coming up here later in the show in our number two, if you get our number two on the radio, if not, don't worry, you can get it on the podcast on a podcast player.

[00:29:22] Eric Goranson: We're gonna be talking to our friends over at Fortress Home and what they do is they actually build storm ready homes that are made to take the effects of a hurricane or a windstorm or a wildfire and these guys are really cool. They're a nonprofit and they're helping. Homes survive storms and be more resilient.

[00:29:43] Eric Goranson: And so it's a really cool. It doesn't matter if you're building a home or remodeling home, they have programs for there. So we'll be talking with them later. In the show, here's the one thing we've been talking about today. And it's really important. I think, especially in today's economy where things just getting more and more expensive and that's how to save money on your next remodel [00:30:00] project.

[00:30:00] Eric Goranson: Now we've been talking really from the DIY standpoint of things in this segment here. I wanted to talk about all you guys out there that don't have time or the ability to tackle that project. And that's how to save money with the contractor. And this is an important one because many times you can make mistakes that actually cost you money and it's something that I think we need to have a serious conversation about in this last segment.

[00:30:23] Eric Goranson: So hiring the right contractor first, if you're going on like Craigslist or Nextdoor or Facebook Marketplace, that is where many of the scam contractors hide. And you will see their friends post up and go, Oh, hire Jim over here at blah, blah, blah. Make sure they're licensed, bonded, insured. And here's the thing.

[00:30:44] Eric Goranson: Many places in the country, especially in rural areas, don't really have contracting licenses for people, so it's, that is one of those things that they're not doing a great job of protecting people out there. So make sure [00:31:00] that, even if it's not required in your area, make sure they're licensed, bonded, insured, and that they're covered there.

[00:31:06] Eric Goranson: But here's the thing. This is where some people get worried. They're like, I'm not gonna pay for an estimate. It is okay to pay a contractor to give you a detailed estimate. If they come out and say, I'm going to guess this project is going to be between 000. And you say, okay, what would it take to get a detailed estimate?

[00:31:25] Eric Goranson: And they say, Hey, I'm going to have to spend a good part of a day. I charged three 50 for that. And then I give you that back. If you purchase for me, something fair deal. I do not want anyone to work for free. And that contractor should not have to take time out of their busy schedule to work for free to itemize things out just so you can kind of kick the tires.

[00:31:46] Eric Goranson: So I think it's more than fair for them to be compensated. And then you get some good numbers. You get some numbers that somebody spent some time on and that they're real. They think, okay, this is our estimate to do this. And then you can write a contract [00:32:00] around it. So, I don't want to see a bid, remodel kitchen, 72, 000.

[00:32:07] Eric Goranson: I want to see remodel kitchen, brand new cabinetry by, I'm going to make a name up or use a brand out there that's familiar, Craftmade. This door style, this color, this knobs, this backsplash, this granite, three new electrical circuits that will run the lights, the vent hood, and the dishwasher. I want to see all of these things laid out.

[00:32:32] Eric Goranson: I want to see the quality. I want to see a brand name if I can. If it's not picked out or selected, I want to see a budget. Kitchen faucet, 300. Okay, you have to go out and price that. So these are things that I want you to see on that estimate. If it's just a line number, my favorite kitchen remodel estimates are about four pages long.

[00:32:57] Eric Goranson: Because I want to see everything lined out from drywall [00:33:00] repair to tile backsplash to floor touch ups, whatever has to happen. I want to see that dialed in because that gets you a real number so you can see it. The biggest problem I see with bad contractors and majority of contractors do an excellent business out there.

[00:33:18] Eric Goranson: But what we're seeing right now is that when housing sales and housing starts slow, we have a lot of spec home builders that are small go, Oh, we're not selling houses. So what's that mean? We're going to get a remodeling. And maybe it's been 10 years since they've been remodeling. So their numbers are way off.

[00:33:36] Eric Goranson: So you need to be able to sit there and look at it. And if you've seen estimates as kitchen faucet, 300 bucks, you can jump online and go, Hey, I'm going to check this. What can I get for 300 bucks? Is that what I'm looking for? No, I wanted a 500 faucet. Okay. Now you can have that discussion, but you need to be able to see what's reasonable.

[00:33:51] Eric Goranson: What's not. And so that's a big one right there. And you get all these people that, that, um, that, that were subcontractors that are all of a sudden jumping in as a [00:34:00] contractor again. And this is where those guys kind of flood the market. So you gotta be very careful. To navigate that so make sure that you do the check on the references as well And if you can see a project, that's awesome because now you can see what they did now Here's one other thing though If you're going to go knock on somebody's door and say hey, I want to see your brand new kitchen I want you to be prepared when your kitchen is done and that contractor is left You need to be able to give that same love to somebody else.

[00:34:31] Eric Goranson: If they call you up and say, Hey, I'm having this contractor do my kitchen. They did yours. What did you like? What didn't you like? Hey, come over and take a look at it. I want you to have that same openness. So I want you to be able to give and take with that. Because that's what you can do if you're going to do that.

[00:34:46] Eric Goranson: If not, have them send you some pictures. Or take a look at it and see what they think. And take a look and see. That way you can see what the level of detail is with it. Now, there's one thing I used to do a lot of with this show, and actually I have [00:35:00] stopped doing it because I've noticed a trend. And this is by far not everybody, but there's a lot of this that happens.

[00:35:07] Eric Goranson: So I'm going to say this happens probably half the time and it is a trend that we see. So a homeowner goes out and hires an unlicensed, unbonded contractor because they can do the price for half of what their other bids were. Which, first off, is a warning sign of not to be doing business with this person, because generally those other two people are giving you real numbers, and that one there isn't.

[00:35:33] Eric Goranson: So what I've had, and this has been a struggle when I go to help people out, I've tried to do some stories on it, I've tried to do some interviews on it, and it just quite frankly hasn't worked, because the people that I've helped, I go out there and go, oh my gosh, this whole house, let's say somebody spent 200, 000 on a remodel.

[00:35:51] Eric Goranson: And it went sideways. Almost always, most of that work has to get completely torn out and started over. And so that person [00:36:00] that was trying to do it on the cheap, their personality flaw says that they're going to do it on the cheap again. They're not going to pay the real price. So unfortunately, what should have been maybe a 300, 000 project that they had done for two, now they have to start over.

[00:36:14] Eric Goranson: That 200, 000 goes in the dumpster out front. They've got to pay to get rid of that. And then they go out and try to find the next cheap contractor. And I've had this happen so many times where I'm like, okay, here is that person. And I know there's some people listening that I've probably worked with that were some of those people out there.

[00:36:32] Eric Goranson: And I'm just going to call the spade here, guys. And this is one of those things that, that they go and do the same thing over again. And you're like, ah, they're going to make the same mistake again. And they're going to get burned again. So sometimes you have to pay the piper when you make mistakes like that.

[00:36:48] Eric Goranson: And that is the hardest pill to swallow. When you realize that you got taken for 200, 000 bucks and something, you're just as responsible as the people that took advantage of you. And then when [00:37:00] you have to go spend, spend another 300, 000 to fix it. You want to find it for two again, and that's why we don't really highlight those people on here because many times more than I'd like to see, they just jump in and make the same mistake again, even though they know better.

[00:37:16] Eric Goranson: And even though they've had professionals tell them. That they're going the wrong way with it. And that's where it gets ugly. So that's really the reason why we don't talk about it much on this show or bring these people on is because many times I don't want to sit there and embarrass them and say, Hey guys, you are part of the issue here.

[00:37:36] Eric Goranson: And by not doing this correctly, and you knew better, you knew things weren't going well, and you just kept thinking about the money you were saving. And then when you realize that they did it all wrong, that's going to cost you money. I try not to do that because I like to keep this show positive here. I love to keep this high energy for you guys.

[00:37:53] Eric Goranson: And as with the most information, but that's why we don't do it. I've had people ask, why don't we do highlights and stories on these? [00:38:00] It's just because those mistakes get to be so ugly. And, uh, my job is not to sit there and beat up a homeowner that already lost 200 grand. And to read them the right act and watch them do it again, where they're probably going to lose another 200 grand the next time around if they get lucky.

[00:38:18] Eric Goranson: So, that's the positivity we're just not going to go with, but that's why I've had a bunch of questions on it, and I figured, hey, since we're talking about saving money, let's talk about it in this show. So, let's make sure we hire the right people if we're going to do it. If not, take it as a DIY project.

[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: And one other thing I want to mention before we go out here, and this is an important one. Sometimes doing your own demo can cost more for the contractor than if you let them do it. So ask that question. If they give you a bid and say, okay, what can I do to reduce the cost? What if I did demo? Because most of the time the homeowner doesn't do demo the same way the contractor does.

[00:38:59] Eric Goranson: And [00:39:00] sometimes more damage is done that they have to fix. So that is one thing to have that reasonable conversation with the contractor. And say, okay, what if I do A, B, and C? What if I paint the walls afterwards? Sometimes a contractor is going to say no because you're going to get paint everywhere. It's not going to look good and, and I want my name on this.

[00:39:17] Eric Goranson: I want the pictures of this job. I want to be able to show people what I did and I don't want to look like I did the paint on this. I don't want to take the blame for something that wasn't done professionally. Thanks for listening to Around the House.